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The history of the Pakistani Taliban

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The history of the Pakistani Taliban02:32

The northwestern region of Pakistan -- near the volatile border with Afghanistan -- has a large militant presence, and it has been plagued by fighting.

On Saturday, the Pakistani Taliban carried out a suicide bombing targeting a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial official in downtown Peshawar, Bashir Bilour. The official was among 10 people killed; 17 other people were wounded.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the blast and issued his support for Pakistan "to combat the scourge of terrorism."

Earlier this month, health workers administering polio vaccinations came under fresh attack in northwestern Pakistan, including an 18-year-old worker slain as he was vaccinating children on the outskirts of Peshawar.

Pakistanis have viewed polio vaccination campaigns with suspicion after the CIA's use of a fake vaccination program last year to collect DNA samples from residents of Osama bin Laden's compound to verify the al Qaeda leader's presence there.

In June, a Taliban commander in northwest Pakistan announced a ban on polio vaccines for children in the region as long as the United States continues its campaign of drone strikes in the region, the Taliban said.